US pauses $14bn Taiwan arms sale for Iran war munitions

WASHINGTON — The United States is pausing a $14 billion weapons sale to Taiwan to conserve munitions for the war with Iran, the acting Navy secretary told the Senate on Wednesday. It is the first time a senior Pentagon official has stated outright that combat in the Middle East is constraining American defence commitments in the Indo-Pacific.

Hung Cao, appointed acting Navy secretary in January, told the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee that the foreign military sales package had been put on hold to ensure sufficient stockpiles for Operation Epic Fury. The US-led campaign against Iran began on 28 February 2026 and, three months in, has become the largest sustained American combat operation in a generation. The Taiwan package — among the largest arms transfers ever approved for Taipei — includes advanced missile systems, artillery batteries and air-defence platforms meant to deter a Chinese blockade or amphibious operation against the island.

Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury — which we have plenty. We’re just making sure we have everything, but then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary.

Cao said the decision on when to resume deliveries rested with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He offered no timeline.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who has spent years pressing successive administrations to accelerate arms transfers to Taipei, responded with evident frustration.

Yeah, that’s what’s really distressing.

McConnell’s reaction captured a wider anxiety among Asia-focused lawmakers in both parties. The Iran conflict is now in its third month, pulling US military resources and political attention away from the western Pacific even as Chinese military activity around Taiwan has intensified. Beijing’s air force has conducted eight large-scale incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone since January, according to Taipei’s defence ministry. The People’s Liberation Army Navy has maintained a near-continuous surface presence in the Taiwan Strait over the same period.

Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s representative to the United States, told The Hill that the island needed the arms package to sustain a credible deterrent against China, which claims the self-governing democracy as its territory.

If we want to prevent a war from happening, I think it’s best that Taiwan is strong, able to defend itself, and therefore we should be able to acquire — to buy the arms that we need to have a stronger defence.

Stockpile pressure

The trade-off between the Iran war and Taiwan’s defence has become explicit as nearly three months of sustained combat draws down US munitions inventories. A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies published in April found the Pentagon had expended 45 per cent of its Precision Strike Missile inventory in the Iran campaign. The same analysis found that between 53 per cent and 80 per cent of THAAD interceptor missiles had been fired; the wide range depends on what mix of ballistic and cruise missile salvos Iran has launched against US bases and naval assets in the Gulf.

The White House has drafted an $80 billion to $100 billion supplemental funding request to backfill those expenditures and replenish stocks across the services. Congressional aides said the request has not yet been formally transmitted to the Hill. It is expected to face a contested path through the House, where some Republicans have questioned the scale of spending on the three-month-old Iran operation even as they voice support for the Taiwan arms package.

The stockpile strain has implications beyond Taiwan. Responsible Statecraft reported that Cao’s admission is the clearest signal yet that Pentagon planners are making zero-sum choices between theatres — a dynamic defence officials had long warned would accompany any protracted Middle East conflict. Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines all rely on US weapons transfers and co-production arrangements that draw from the same production lines.

What comes next

Pentagon planners had viewed the $14 billion package as central to strengthening the island’s defensive posture against a Chinese blockade or amphibious assault. Its suspension now raises questions about other foreign military sales to Asia-Pacific allies and whether the Pentagon will be forced to reprioritise additional weapons deliveries to the region.

Cao did not address whether other Taiwan-related arms packages are under review, nor did he specify what conditions the administration has set for lifting the pause. The Appropriations Committee took no immediate action at the hearing, though aides to several members signalled that lawmakers from both parties intend to press the Pentagon for a clearer accounting of stockpile levels and delivery timelines in the coming weeks. The pause coincides with a period in which President Trump has adopted an increasingly transactional posture toward alliance commitments, deepening debate among defence analysts about the durability of American security guarantees in the Asia-Pacific.